After last weekend’s Women’s March, someone very close to me said, “Wow. That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

And I wondered exactly why this person, who I know has had many exciting, meaningful, diverse, and powerful experiences in her life, would think this was the coolest thing she’d ever done?

I know it was historical. I realize it was powerful. I understand that it was probably very emotional and personally significant to her in a way that I probably cannot understand because I’m not a woman.

But I’m betting there was also another reason. . .

I’m guessing one of the reasons last Saturday’s march was the coolest thing she’d ever done is because she had chosen to act intentionally, to act with purpose, to act in accordance with inner values and core philosophies that were in keeping with the authenticity of who she was.

Acting intentionally and with purpose increases the meaning, significance, and power of our lives because we know there is a reason we are making the choices we’re making. There is a cause we are supporting or an endgame we’re after.

It's something teachers do all the time. And yet often, not enough. Or at least, not in the right way.

When we act with intention, we are focused. We are tuned in. Our actions and behavior are not random or serendipitous, but rather are “about” something.

So even if you don’t march in the streets with thousands of others, you can still stop and ask yourself:

How can I act intentionally with my health?

How can I act intentionally with my teaching practice?

How can I act intentionally with my spouse or my children?

How can I behave in a way that clarifies my focus and how can I make choices that are based on my intuition, core values, and belief systems?

How can I decide to do something right now that will take me where I want to go and either improve my life, the lives of my family or students, or even the lives of those around me?

Don’t let life simply happen. Choose a reason for doing what you're doing.

Decide what your intention is for the significant things that you do and the important moments in your day, then act on them.And if you're not careful, you may decide that it's one of the coolest things you’ve ever done. TZT

When I looked up, I realized my family members were assembled in the kitchen, staring at me.

They were staring at me because they were well-acquainted with my 2017 commitment to decluttering.

“Yes,” I said, clearing my throat and screwing up my courage. “I threw it away. We have a new knife set and the paring knife was from the old one. I didn’t think we needed it.”

Silence.

“We did.”

***

I’ll spare you the details of the conversation that ensued, but I wanted to share the solution with you—which, as it turns out, was an excellent idea that came from my youngest daughter.

She said, “Why don’t we get one of those big, clear bins from Target and set it in the corner of the room and throughout the week each of us can put stuff in that we think we don’t need or want anymore and then once a week we can all go through it and empty the box, either by throwing the stuff away, dumping it in a pile for a garage sale, or putting it back where we got it from if someone still wants to keep it. That way we don’t get rid of anything that someone else wants to keep.”

Before you can say Minimalism, she and I were in the mini-van on our way to Target, where we bought a clear, white bin that is now sitting in the corner of our living room and already has stuff in it. Naturally, the goal would be to declutter so much that, eventually, we get rid of the bin as well! But until then, no one will feel like his or her possessions will be thrown away without permission and/or approval. And we've agreed that every Sunday, we will all meet and take some time to go through the box. This Sunday will be our first attempt at this new household decluttering ritual, all because of a $12 bin from Target.

And you know what else I got while we were at Target?

Yup.

A new paring knife.* TZT

*This is actually a very important point when it comes to decluttering. There WILL be times you get rid of stuff and go for it later. But I promise you that, much like the paring knife, there is very little that cannot be immediately and inexpensively replaced. But checking with family members is a good way to avoid trashing sentimental or irreplaceable items. But if a paring knife brings back particularly emotional memories, perhaps you have more pressing issues than decluttering. :)

I was fortunate enough this summer to bring The Zen Teacher message to teachers around the country and I guarantee you that during these workshops, I learned as much or more than the teachers I was there to serve.

This workshop was especially meaningful to me because I was hired by Jane Schaffer, renowned educator and originator of The Jane Schaffer Writing Program. She was my friend as well as my mentor. I always say that Jane took an inexperienced and scattered newbie, and turned him into a teacher. Since Jane’s retirement, Dr. Deborah Louis has been continuing Jane’s awesome work and was kind enough to ask me to share my message with her handful of elite trainers at their yearly retreat. Not only was I lucky enough to give a workshop in a beachfront private residence in Ventura County, California, but the camaraderie was such that we all joined in on a few a capella choruses of America’s “Ventura Highway,” which was winding itself through that part of California just minutes from the event. It was also during this workshop that I improvised the line “Intuition Never Screams,” which not only eventually became a blog post you can read here, but is now a critical part of the Zen Teacher workshop.

THE LEARNING CENTER OF NORTH TEXAS(August 10th, Dallas/Fort Worth)

I’m not a traveler, but I’m learning. So to fly to Texas was a life experience for me and wouldn’t have been possible unless Brenda Cavin Grizzle and Lloyd Day of The Learning Center of North Texas hadn’t had such amazing faith in me and the Zen Teacher message. One thing I learned during my experience reminding Texas teachers about the importance of Self-Care as they readied themselves for a brand new school year was that there is, in fact, enough content and activities to do a three-hour workshop. It was also the first time I focused exclusively on teaching my newly developed, 7-Step Blueprint for creating Focus, Simplicity, and Tranquility in the classroom.

THE LEARNING COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL KEYNOTE ADDRESS(August 30, 2016)

It was in New Jersey in 2015 that I gave the first Zen Teacher workshop at the EdScape 2015 conference and realized I had underestimated the need for self-care for teachers. So it was so rewarding that this was also the destination for my very first keynote address to a group of New Jersey educators who were also preparing themselves to re-enter the classroom for the 2016-2017 school year. The venue was beautiful, the people were exceptionally friendly and receptive, and I was humbled to be able to be the keynote speaker for a large number of the local charter schools represented at this event. My sincere thanks go to Colin Hogan for his great kindness and faith. I was also able to sneak into New York City for a few hours and spent some time in Greenwich Village and visited a little venue called The Bitter End, where many of my favorite folk, rock, and comedy artists from the 60s began their careers**, just as I began a new phase of my career on this same coast almost a year ago.

*

One common thread I noticed throughout these three workshops was that each of the organizers in charge were, in fact, visionary educational leaders who recognized the need to take care of teachers and to value their health and well-being. Imagine if EVERY state, district, site, and admin team felt the same.

What would education, learning, and our students’ endgame look like then? TZT

If you are interested in a Zen Teacher workshop or keynote address for your site or event, please contact Shelley Burgess for my rates at daveburgessconsulting@gmail.com. I am also available to create videos for your school events, host Google Hangouts or Skype sessions, or share content and activities through various other methods. Just ask!

*And yes, that is the same blazer in all the pictures. (I figure if it worked for Steve Jobs. . . )

When I gave my first Zen Teacher workshop last October at New Jersey’s EdScape 2015 conference, it was a watershed moment for me because it became clear that the need teachers have for a sense of peace in their profession ran much more deeply than I first anticipated. The same thing has been true in every workshop I’ve given since. Consequently, I feel as if I have found a new calling.

And in each of my workshops, we have used what I call The Zen Teacher Activity sheets to show teachers how to create more space, enjoy more peace, and develop their own Zen Practices outside of the classroom. The Activity Sheets have been an integral part of my message and program, and have only ever been available for workshop participants.

Until now.

Beginning immediately, I want to offer these Activity Sheets to everyone. Anyone who signs up for the Zen Teacher newsletter will now receive the 14-page Activity Sheet booklet absolutely free, simply for signing up. To join now and receive your own free copy of the Zen Teacher packet simply by signing up for The Zen Teacher newsletter, please click here.

I’m also happy to report that I’ve been booking more and more Zen Teacher workshops and presentations around the country and the Zen Teacher message has been picking up steam! I'll be in Oxnard in June, for example, working with an ELA teachers Mastermind training group, and I’ll be in Texas in August sharing the Zen Teacher message with The Learning Center of North Texas, an organization that has always been extremely supportive of my work, and I'll be in New Jersey at the end of August, which means I'll have hit both ends AND the middle of the country!

But until I’m booked more often and closer to wherever you are , you can also have the same workshop materials and activity sheets as my participants just by signing up for the Zen Teacher Newsletter here.

I also hope you’ll tell the people who make such decisions that I would love to come and share with your staff or your district some ideas on how teachers can embrace a greater sense of peace and a deeper commitment of radical and intentional self-care. Tell them you'd like a Zen Teacher workshop of your very own!

To book a workshop or presentation, please contact my publisher, DBC, Inc., by emailing Shelley Burgess at daveburgessconsulting@gmail.com, and specify if you're inquiring about a 1 hour, 2 hour, half-day, or full day workshop. Thank you.

Until then, I hope you enjoy the Zen Teacher Activity Sheets, and I look forward to our continued conversation regarding becoming Zen Teachers. TZT

To my delight, the response was immediate and enthusiastic. But even then, I was left with many questions—how do I do it, How long do I make the sessions, do I charge or not, and how do I include as many people as possible when each Google Hangout is limited to a maximum of 10 people?

But after some thought, I think I’ve discovered a solution:

I am looking for groups of people who are reading The Zen Teacherand who or serious about participating in a Google Hangout Zen Teacher class. This might be a school, a district, or even just a group of friends running an informal book club.

If this sounds like you, I will be happy to offer a FREE, 60 minute Zen Teacher Google Hangout to your group. If you get 3-10 people together who are reading the book and want to go deeper, simply contact me and we will set a date and time. Even if you read the book months ago, feel free to get a few people together and hang out with me so we can talk about how to create more focus, peace, and simplicity for you. This approach seemed to make the most sense and ensure that the participants were interested and committed to this message.

You can either reach out to me here in the comments section of the blog, on Twitter (@thezenteacher), or by emailing me at teachingzen@gmail.com. Once I am contacted, we will not only set a date and time, but discuss what kind of focus you’d like you and your group would like to take. I'm very excited about this new forum for showing teachers how to maximize their performance without sacrificing themselves in the process.

Please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience and we’ll set something up. And of course, I’m always grateful when you help me spread the Zen Teacher message in any way, so please feel free to invite your staff, your friends, your colleagues, or even the crazy guy down the street.

Let’s work together to make your job and life just a little bit more peaceful.

It might be a book club you no longer wish to be a part of. A hobby you've lost interest in. The committee you felt coerced to be on. The church event you never really liked in the first place. Whatever.

Just stop. Say no. Respect your time and space. And because your needs matter, insist that others respect them, too.

And when you remove that thing, what do you do with the space you've created?

You can fill it with something you're passionate about or that fulfills you. You can reflect on what you DO and DO NOT wish to do in your life. You can even use it to do a whole lot of nothing. And that's okay.

What you fill it with, OR WHETHER YOU FILL IT, is up to you.

The absence of that "just one thing" might possibly give you perhaps the smallest portion of breathing room you need in order to see things more clearly, create some space in your life, and see what's really important. TZT

When I started The Zen Teacher project, I talked a lot about achieving a work/life balance. I wanted to show teachers how to reduce their stress so they could make it to retirement, how to maximize their performance without sacrificing themselves.

And I still want those things for teachers. But I have to admit that an article I read the other day significantly altered my perception. In this article*, the writer argued that it wasn’t work/life balance that was important, but harmony.

Dictionary.com defines Harmony as “a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement” and uses words like “agreement” or “accord,” and “congruity” to further explain the concept. In lay terms, Harmony is when all the parts are working together in a way that is satisfying, complete, and pleasant. In music, for example, harmony is when all of the notes of certain chords are played in way where they blend seamlessly together. In painting, harmony is created when the color palette works together and the blending is pleasing to the eye.

If I activate my sense of Beginner’s Mind and ask, “What can I learn here?” I realize that, as much as we may try to adjust the scales to create a balance, Life and The Universe often have other plans and we find that this precious balance we seek is, in reality, often quite askew**.

And what I mostly remember feeling during those times when things seem off-kilter is the frustration of not being where I wanted to be, not spending enough time in one place other the other—typically, not enough time in the “life” portion and too much time in “work,” portion. These experiences weren’t even in the same zip code as “balanced,” let alone on the same continent as harmony.

Conversely, during times when I did feel that things were operating as they should be, when I was in line with my purpose and sense of self and my life was in a sense of flow, I felt a greater sense of harmony. And experiencing a sense of harmony, I must admit, often feels better (more fulfilling, more peaceful, more pleasant) than simply experiencing a state of balance. It just feels richer and purer in some way.

As teachers, then, there are several ways to ensure that we are operating from a place of harmony--even when everything else seems out of balance.

We can:

Know our value system and act within it. Consistently acting within our value system is what is commonly known as “integrity.”

Be around people we like. If we like the company, even times where there is less balance can feel more pleasant.

Listen to our bodies. Our bodies tell us more than we think, and we listen to them LESS than we think.

Practice Self-Compassion. If we are aware of our limitations, we will experience less stress, simply because we will know when we have overextended ourselves and need to re-align our energies toward a greater sense of peace and fulfillment.

Find our Zen Practice. Developing an activity that fires up our passion and fulfills us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually will increase our sense of personal enjoyment and satisfaction which will, in turn, help us through those times when the scales are tipped. Not to put too fine a point on it, but choosing our Zen Practice should be one of the great priorities in our life.

Identify our purpose. When I was growing up, nearly all of my male relatives hated their jobs, but were locked in because of life choices they made that were, let’s say, less than mindful. I promised myself I would never do that. That’s why I became a teacher. I identified my purpose and it has always been one of the places where I have felt my greatest sense of Harmony. Even when the stress comes from wondering how I’m going to make ends meet until the end of the month, I still feel totally aligned with my purpose.

This is just a starter kit of ideas on how to create your own sense of harmony, but I assure you that when you experience harmony, you'll have some "pretty good company."

Creating balance is critical. But I absolutely love the idea of living our lives with a sense of harmony, where things are flowing and working—even when we aren’t always where we want to be or where we think we should be.

So please accept this post as a mini-manifesto that I will be changing not only my Zen Teacher tenet but my own personal approach from a focus on work/life balance to the pursuit of harmony, so that in those inevitable times when things are out of whack, I’m still singing in way that is pleasing to the ear. TZT

*Please don’t tell my students I didn’t cite my source. I can’t for the life of me remember where I read the article. Nevertheless, it still hit me between the eyes and I learned from it.

**That’s just a funny word.

ZEN TEACHER ACTION STEP:

If you'd like more information on achieving harmony in your life, a great article on how to do that can be found here.

One of the constants across academic subject areas is structure. In English, we have the five paragraph essay—introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion. In math, there are algorithms, equations, and proofs. In the social sciences, students learn of governments which are organized around various ideologies. In music, they have bass and treble clefs. In drama, there’s upstage and downstage. You get the idea. So now that we’re nearing the year anniversary of The Zen Teacher Project, and in anticipation of this fall’s publication of The Zen Teacher as an actual book, I thought it was time to give this funky little soapbox of mine just a bit more structure. After some serious reflection--and more than a trip or two back to the drawing board—I realized I could structure my approach here into seven separate areas that we can explore in order to bring you a greater sense of peace and centeredness, both in and out of the classroom. The seven areas I’ll be discussing, in order of what I see as an organic and natural progression toward the Zen Teacher qualities we’re after (namely, focus, simplicity, tranquility), are as follows: 1.Beginner’s Mind 2.Mindfulness and Meditation 3.Non-judgment and Acceptance 4.Lovingkindness (including compassion, kindness, and gratitude) 5.Intuition 6.The Three S’s: Space, Stillness, and Silence 7.Intentional Self-Care It’s not so much that my blog posts will be radically different, but that I wanted to give you a container in which to hold the things we talk about--just think of it as your very own 2 liter bottle of Zen Cola. And in streamlining the structure and approach, I hope I’m also modeling the stuff I talk about like mindfulness, space, and simplification. As a bonus, I have also included a category section in the sidebar of the blog that, while not exactly matching up to the seven areas mentioned above verbatim, does in fact encompass all of them. I then went back and labeled each of my blog posts with the appropriate tag or tags, ensuring for you an easier perusal of a year’s worth of posts.I'm hoping that the concepts I discuss here lead to nothing less than a total transformation for you in terms of your sense of peace and equanimity. To that end, I hope you enjoy the new approach and, as always, I am happy to receive your questions, comments, and feedback. And now, let's return to your regularly scheduled Zen. TZT

I’m thrilled to announce that my book THE ZEN TEACHER: CREATING FOCUS, SIMPLICITY, AND TRANQUILITY IN THE CLASSROOM will be published by DBC, Inc., owned and operated by Dave Burgess of “Teach Like a Pirate” fame. As you know, Dave has been rocking the educational book biz, and so I'm stoked to be in the great company of his other awesome teacher/authors. The book is currently in production and is scheduled to be released in just the next month or two, so keep an eye out! THE ZEN TEACHER: CREATING FOCUS, SIMPLICITY, AND TRANQUILITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM contains many Zen techniques, concepts, activities, and insights that can help you create a greater sense of balance and calm in the classroom and in your life. It has chapters on mindfulness, meditation, beginner’s mind, non-judgment, paying attention, space, silence, radical self-care, as well as many other helpful topics. Some of the concepts I’ve covered over the last year in my blog, but plenty of the material is new and original and will help you on your journey toward personal and professional peace. Publishing a book is nothing short of a lifetime dream come true, and the fact that I now get to couple it with my new passion—taking care of teachers like YOU!—I just couldn’t be happier! I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to share this path with you in a way that you can hold in your hands and incorporate into your personal lives. I’ll keep you posted, but I would love to hear from you if you have any comments or questions.

Thanks for listening.

Dan P.S. I can’t wait for you to see it. Like all of Dave’s books, the cover is going to ROCK! P.P.S. My newsletter subscribers were the first to hear about this, so to get the news first, sign up here.

If the themes I’ve covered in this blog have resonated with you, and you’re looking for more of the same, I invite you to subscribe to the new monthly Zen Teacher newsletter. This new Zen Teacher feature will be sent to your email inbox once a month and will include many Zen Teacher extras, including helpful resources on Mindfulness, Meditation, Simplicity, and Peace.

In The Zen Teacher newsletter you will find reflections and mini-blog posts written by me, links to helpful and relevant articles, inspirational quotes, and inspiring photos. Perhaps most exciting, however, is every month I will have new, zen-inspired activities and challenges that will help you in your own path to focus, peace, and tranquility—both inside and outside the classroom. One of my favorite parts, though, is that you will be among the first to receive information about my upcoming book entitled The Zen Teacher: Creating Focus, Peace, and Tranquility in the Classroom.

To receive the newsletter, all you need to do to is visit my website and enter your email address in the contact form (or click here) and leave me a little message saying you wish to be included in the subscription list and, starting this month, I will send you my newsletter.

I’m very excited about this new feature and I hope it will be of great value to subscribers.

As always, I would love to hear from regarding anything you see here, in the newsletter, or in the upcoming book.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for joining me on this journey. TZT

I learned one of the most important lessons in my entire teaching career during an evacuation drill.

I was standing in the bleachers of our school stadium waiting for the office to issue the “All Clear” and send us back to class. Even then I understood that fire, evacuation, and lockdown drills were an important part of the public school experience, but I was worried about the lost instructional time and already mulling over how I would adjust the lesson to make up for what we missed. Surely, I reasoned, thinking about these things during the drill proved that I was a conscientious and responsible teacher.

But then I looked down at the football field and saw Mr. Ross, our history and government teacher, with his Senior AP class. I already knew Mr. Ross was one of the brightest and wisest teachers on our staff, but I was stunned when I saw his class sitting in a semi-circle, criss-cross applesauce, textbooks on their laps. Mr. Ross held his own textbook open and was teaching them the next lesson he hoped would improve their scores on the upcoming AP Test. For a long while, I just watched in awe as he held court and his students jotted their notes.

What did I learn that day?

I learned that:

You don't need a computer to teach.You don't need Google Docs to teach.You don't need an iPad to teach.You don't need a large screen projection system to teach.You don't need a white board or dry erase markers to teach.While they might be helpful, you probably don't need textbooks to teach, either.As Mr. Ross proved that day, you don't even need a CLASSROOM to teach.

In I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, the young protagonist faces incomprehensible challenges. The Swat Valley of Pakistan where she lived, for example, was caught in a lethal vice between an impotent, but omnipresent national army and The Taliban terrorists who were bombing her homeland to dust. These same zealots routinely threatened the citizens, especially women, if they did not adhere to strict religious edicts, and censored and suppressed the citizens' access to media that would give them both thought and alternative voices. Furthermore, she endured Taliban suicide bombers who targeted local schools, reducing the buildings to rubble and injuring and/or killing innocent school children and teachers in the process. And then, when she first wanted an education and then spoke out in favor of getting one (and, given her culture and gender, the fact that she was getting one at all was, by itself, no small miracle), she weathered not only persecution from her neighbors but, as it turns out, sadly credible death threats. Finally, as she refused to stop attending school or speaking out in favor of an educational system that honors and values both genders, she was hunted down, shot, separated from her family, and came frighteningly close to losing her life.

As much as I am both horrified and inspired by her story, I can, of course, relate to Malala's plight in only the most intellectual, superficial level. In a world where one of my greatest challenges is that Time Warner might turn off my cable from lack of payment and my family won't get to see the next episode of The Amazing Race, I have absolutely zero idea what it means to go through what she’s gone through.

And of course my first impulse after I finished reading was to take her story to my students, hold up the book, and say, "Here is a girl who was willing to die for what you have and risked her life to speak up for what we all take for granted each and every day of our lives. Do you see this? You're lucky to be in these desks, no matter how boring you think I am." And yet, I quickly realized that sermonizing to my students wouldn't help them understand.

About now you're probably thinking, "Okay, Dan, where is the Zen?"

The Zen Moment here is not in what Malala's story can teach my students, but in what her story taught me about my own life. This young girl, who won the Nobel Peace Prize at an age younger than the age I was when I earned a driver's license (to that date, my greatest achievement--and perhaps, still), taught me that maybe, just maybe, I could be a little bolder, a little braver when it came to my choices not only about education, but about life.

The Zen Moment here is that I can detach from my fears and my expected outcomes, accept what is, and then I can speak up. I can start where I am and make change. I can create peace in myself by creating a spiritual alignment between what's in my soul and fighting for what I believe in. I am NOT Malala, but maybe because of her inspiration, I can be a better me.

In the end, I will never ever, so long as I live, be the hero Malala Yousafzai is. But the next time I hold back from speaking in a meeting about something I believe in, the next time I cower in the face of risk at trying something new inside (or outside) the classroom, the next time I begin to ignore my passions, the next time I must go up against forces that seem overpowering and intimidating, I will think of Malala and it will motivate me to push forward, to not be afraid, and to do what I must--even in the face of what seems unbearable because, if I remember Malala, I’ll know that it is not. TZT

Zen Teaching takes conscious effort. Here are seven steps I've taken this week to create a handful of Zen moments in my life--both personally and professionally.

1. Subtraction/Space: A writing assignment I did with my juniors crashed and burned. I simply jettisoned it, and I pretended as if it never happened. Time to move on, and we were all the better for my having done that. Onward and upward.

2. Silence/Meditation: Several times last week, I found time during the school day for silence. Before school, during my prep period, during lunch, or at the end of the day. I sat at my desk in the empty room and enjoyed all of the noise I wasn't making.

3. Lovingkindness: In an effort to unify our staff (which has gone through some bumpy times recently), I launched an in-house, all staff virtual faculty lounge (read: website and blog) celebrating the great things we're doing on campus. I love my school and my staff and it is my hope that it will help us come together again and, with luck, help us begin to heal from the recent tensions.

4. Detachment/Acceptance: Last weekend I was looking forward to going to my favorite restaurant, but when I arrived the wait was over 45 minutes. As I went to check on the wait at the restaurant across the parking lot, I started to get all butthurt that I wasn't going to get to eat where I wanted, but then remembered that each moment is beautiful and perfect the way it is, and that I needed to accept. After deciding to wait for the place I wanted originally, my name was called in just over 15 minutes. My acceptance avoided a lot of unnecessary weeping and gnashing of teeth because, as it turns out, The Universe had a plan.

5. Simplification: Yesterday was an off-campus professional development day where I worked on goals and curriculum. I designed goals, objectives, and curriculum that eliminated unnecessary stuff and focused only and exclusively on the areas of learning I want to cover.

6. Quiet Mind: After the professional development was over, I walked through a local mall and, for an extended period of time, just sat and watched the water flow in a water fountain simply because it was so beautiful.7. Self-Care: I have no obligations tomorrow morning. I will spend at least two hours in the a.m. just recharging my batteries. Coffee. Music. Some reading, perhaps, or writing poetry. Even just sitting in a chair listening to the birds outside. I will rest both body and mind. No agenda; just being.

If part one of the question is "Where can you include a few moments of Zen in your personal or professional life?", then part two of the question is, "Where do you need to create peace, focus, and simplicity?" TZT

1. Zen Teachers know there is no corporate ladder in education; our movement ripples out, not up. We don’t get the collosal paycheck, the corner office with a view, or the Lamborghini. Many of us eat spaghetti and drive old Buicks. On the other hand, we often minister to suffering students, increase their overall knowledge, and profoundly influence the positivity of their future. Am I okay with that? Please pass the Ragu.

2. Zen Teachers smile at the hoops, jump, and then return to the classroom and teach what they know is right. The system is broken—a Standardized Testing Machine that has run amok, Politicians and business people who have never stepped foot in a classroom think they know what is best and dictate our curriculum, and a lack of funds have made our classrooms look like festival seating at a Who Concert. But if you’ve been teaching for over 5 years, I promise that you know what works. Attend the meetings, sign the papers, give the tests, but then go back to your classroom and teach what you know your students need (because no one knows what your students need better than you. No one).

3. Zen Teachers lead the class as a single unit, but know there are as many stories as there are students. Especially with 35-40 students per class, we need each class to function as a cohesive entity. But Zen Teachers remember that there are details behind each child who has no food, who has broken up with his boyfriend/girlfriend, who had a fight with mom in the car that morning, and who slept at a friend's house the night before because the screaming drove them out of the house and into the night.

4. Zen Teachers teach this child, but they never lose sight of the teaching continuum of the students who are yet to come. A wise Zen teacher focuses on the students of this year, but spends time learning and growing so that he or she can be the best teacher possible for the students of the future.

5. Zen Teachers teach from their heart & soul, but balance it with intense & radical self-care. Having a healthy heart, mind, and spirit can only increase your success as a Zen Teacher. And then you can use the great place you’re in to teach from your heart and soul and share that passion, energy, and enthusiasm with your students.

6. Zen Teachers realize that THEY are the ones who will most likely learn the MOST in their classrooms. The great irony is that if you are a wise Zen Teacher you are constantly learning. Mathematically, then, you are the one who has grown, learned, and experienced the most in your classroom by the end of your three decades of teaching.

7. Zen Teachers use data-driven instruction, but they HONE and TRUST and RELY on intuition and instinct. Data is important. But wise Zen Teachers learn to refine and trust their intuition, too. Got a sense that something in the classroom isn’t working? Bail out. Does something in your gut tell you what your students need? Full steam ahead. Generate your own statistics and research. Bar graphs be damned. Teaching is an art as well as a craft.

8. Zen Teachers see compassion and gratitude as a potent education cocktail. Drink up! You will reach more students if you approach them with the one-two (figurative) punch of gratitude and compassion. Be grateful that you are there. Be grateful that they are there. And then show them kindness and sensitivity. Docking them points for a late paper may teach them character, but giving them extra time on their essay because their family was moving and the computer is packed teaches them to be human.

9. Zen Teachers know how to eliminate the excess and simplify to the essence to maximize the learning. When you create space, you give yourself breathing room and improve the sense of freedom in the environment. Ask yourself “What is excess? What is unnecessary?” Then get rid of it.

10. Zen Teachers take care of themselves and think about the well-being of other teachers, too. No one is talking about the well-being of teachers. So let me start the conversation. This profession has gone a little loco and, in the absence of anyone else doing it, we need to take care of ourselves and we need to take care of each other. Embrace self-care. Take care of yourself. And then, when you are in a better place, reach out to another struggling teacher and make this profession just a little more bearable for him or her. We will all benefit if you do. TZT

In Show Your Work, Austin Kleon's book on exploring creativity, the author lists ten steps artists can take to cultivate an audience. As it turns out, they are insightful tips for teaching creatively as well. Because in the end, teaching is an art as well as a craft.1. You Don't Have to Be a Genius. I used to think that if I didn't teach the way other teachers taught or if I didn't know what they knew, then I was an inferior educator. But now I know that teaching what I know through who I am is the only way I can teach. I’ve also learned that when I say "I don't know” or “Let's find out,” then everybody learns.

2. Think Process, Not Product. Data-driven testmongers may cringe, but learning is more about trying and failing than it is about saying "Here's my product. Please evaluate it." In other words, we might do well to value the process as much or more as the outcome. 3. Share Something Small Everyday. I've learned that the off-hand, seemingly random comment can have just as much effect on my students as the planned curriculum. Something I thought of as I was driving, perhaps. Or mentioning a movie I saw. Or talking about the birds I saw in the park over the weekend. Or maybe sharing a quip one of my daughters uttered over dinner the night before. Sharing these moments with our students makes us human, relatable, accessible.4. Open Your Cabinet of Curiosities. I have a little red ceramic skull in my classroom that I purchased at Knott's Berry Farm nearly 40 years ago, a trunk with everything I've ever written, six blue-bindered journals I wrote in high school, and a handful of notes from former high school crushes tucked into a box in the cupboard. I take all of these out occasionally and share them with my students. These curiosities not only make me who I am, but they close the gap between the big desk and the smaller desks.5. Tell Good Stories. People have had a hard-wired hunger for stories since cave people sat around the campfire talking about the crazy thing Og in the next village did at the DMV. So no matter what subject you teach, telling good stories is a necessity. If you need practice, listen to masters like Flannery O'Connor, Steven Spielberg, and Louis CK. 6. Teach What You Know. I used to worry that I didn't know enough, but I realized that at the very least I (often, usually, sometimes) know more than my students. So I try to find an idea I can pass along, and I start there. 7. Don't Turn Into Human Spam. Don't always fill the space with talking and taking. Give. Serve. Offer support, praise, and lovingkindness. Learn what they know before showing what you know.8. Learn to Take a Punch. Teaching often feels like a contact sport where someone has hidden the protective pads. Teachers must develop an almost judo-like ability to dodge the inevitable blows or, at the very least, take one on the chin, look your opponent in the eye, and with a broken heart and watery eyes whimper, "That didn't hurt." 9. Sell Out. This is a noble job and we certainly don't do it for the colossal paycheck. But if you ever have a chance to make more money because of your teaching skills (writing a book, tutoring, offering a workshop), take it. Never let anyone make you feel bad for being compensated for your gift. For better or worse, our society values money and so being paid for your training and experience will increase your ethos. It doesn't make you less noble. Do you think Brad Pitt says, "That's okay. Give that 12 million dollar check to Clooney; I just do this for the love of it and how I help people." Ah, no.10. Stick Around. I suppose this is truly where the Zen kicks in. Do what you can to accept, avoid judgment, and detach from expected outcomes, so you can maintain your peace and sanity in the classroom and, more importantly, live to teach another day. Because you still have some time left in this profession, and we need you. TZT

Even though I’ve always been interested in Eastern philosophies, yoga, Zen, and Buddhist thought, it’s only been in the last six months or so--since officially committing to a lifestyle of peace and serenity generated by Zen-inspired techniques--that I’ve truly learned how beneficial pursuing Zen can be.

My journey began as a need to stay sane in a profession that had gone a little nutty, but I’ve gained so much more than that since last summer. It has made me calmer, more serene, and genuinely happier.* I’ve also noticed a direct and positive impact not only in my performance in the classroom, but in my personal life as well. I know, because people have mentioned to me that they've seen the difference, too.

In the last sixth months, I’ve learned:

1. That everything starts with, and can be traced back to, The Breath.

2. That I don’t have to change my religion or spiritual beliefs to find my Zen (I identify as Christian).

3. That if I adopt a sense of Beginner’s Mind, I can learn from anybody, anywhere.

4. That birdsong in the backyard, which I’ve always loved anyway, can be rapturous and transcendent, if I let it be.

5. That meditation can happen anywhere and doesn’t have to take very long at all.

6. That I don’t just have to sit to meditate.

7. That walking meditation is a thing. And I love it.

8. That Non-Doing is not laziness and, moreover, in healthy amounts can send you back to your life even more productive, because you are energized and renewed.

9. That subtraction is key. Sometimes it’s what we leave out that reconnects us to the essential.

10. That simplicity, as an overall approach to life and teaching, is freeing.

11. That discovering (and connecting to) The Present Moment leads to a sense of profound tranquility.

12. That it’s okay to start wherever you are and with whatever’s in front of you.

13. That creating space is a form of creating peace.

14. That not only is silence underused and underrated, but it is often in silence where we hear the deeper rhythms and longings of our souls.

15. That I don’t have to eat the whole muffin.

16. That listening to my body is a skill worth fine-tuning.

17. That detaching from anticipated outcomes leaves me open for even better potentialities.

18. That cleaning something can be a meditative experience.

19. That fast breaks are good breaks.

20. That small victories are good victories.

21. That there is a world beneath our world.

22. That everyone has five minutes.

23. That Zen isn't a destination, but a way of traveling.

24. That physical de-cluttering has mental and emotional ramifictaions. Good ones.

25. That everything starts with, and can be traced back to, The Breath. TZT

*If this sounds appealing to you, I hope you’ll join me on this journey. Please feel free to contact me, ask a question, leave a comment, or start a discussion. I welcome all feedback. At the very least, I hope you’ll keep reading because I am genuinely interested in helping you create your own place of peace and focus in the classroom. I look forward to hearing from you. Peace. Dan

In an effort to provide you with even more valuable content, I am introducing a new feature called 2 Minute Zen. In much shorter bursts than the regular blog posts, I will be offering brief thoughts, reflections, and exercises on approaching your classroom (and your life) with a more serene, peaceful, focused, zen-inspired mindset. Enjoy.

Silence. Carve out some time for silence every day. Silence allows us to retreat from the white noise and distraction from the world. Spend the time in prayer, meditation, or reflection. Stillness. Once you find yourself in silence, be still. Only in stillness can our awareness drop down past the hub-bub of every day life into that deeper well of consciousness where we can listen to our hearts, The Universe, or the deity of our choice. Attention. After finding silence and cultivating stillness, we are more prepared to pay attention to the specifics of our world in a way that will create focus and peace in our lives by giving us permission to be attentive to our passions. TZT

While pursuing acting in Los Angeles in the late 1980’s, I once heard a seasoned stand-up comic advise a novice comedian to, “Tell every new joke as if you’ve told it a million times, and tell every old joke as if you’ve never told it before.” Not only was it revelatory advice for comedy, but I think it’s true for education as well.

We have to provide our students with the wonder and the spontaneity and the magic of a lesson--even if we have taught that lesson every year since The English Renaissance.

On the other hand, we need to have the confidence to present new material as if we are intimately familiar with the content, the expectation, and the outcome. Better yet, we need to teach with the attitude that, even if we’re not entirely sure where the lesson will end up, we have the confidence that it will be someplace cool and worthy and full of really excellent learning. That's what a comedian does when she works out with new material--riffs on a topic until she mines comedy gold. And much like a teacher, a comedian must practice in front of real live people, even when it doesn't go so well.

So where is the Zen in all of this?

The Yin and Yang of this approach will increase your sense of peace and equanimity in the classroom and provide your students with a sense of security because no matter what lesson you teach, you will be confident in your approach, the material, and the outcome (anticipated or not) and your students will be confident that you know what you’re doing and they will trust you to help them find those moments where both you and they can be truly present in their learning.

And if you're lucky, you might just get a few smiles and laughs along the way. TZT

Everything changes. We had state standards in 1997, No Child Left Behind in 2001, and Common Core in 2009. Keeping up gave me whiplash. No more. Now I stay focused on my own standards. The educational winds will blow where they will, but I stay focused on the kids in my classroom. I move forward because I’ve decided what’s important to me and what's best for my students, even knowing that more change is just around the corner.

Everything’s connected. Your lesson on commas, quadratic equations, or the scientific method may rock, but if your student has had a fight with his mother, has broken up with her boyfriend, or has no food in the house, the quality of your lesson is irrelevant. The whole child comes to the classroom. You can almost never fix these problems, but knowing they exist can make you a more caring educator and create an atmosphere of compassion in your classroom.

Paying attention. Teachers are smart, and we have a sixth sense. We know when someone is texting, when a student is lying about a plagiarized essay, or when the admin team is about to pull a fast one. But to our detriment, we often ignore other truths right under our noses, especially when they benefit us as teachers or humans. What if you paid attention to the view outside your classroom door, the sky when you pull into the parking lot, the smell of the trees on your way to the office, the line between investing in the new policies or letting them go, or the signal that your body gives when it need rest or relaxation? What then?

Practicing the reality of these three truths will improve your classroom experience and, quite possibly, bring you just a squinch more peace. TZT

"The unpardonable sin is the sin of inadvertence, of not being alert, not being awake." -- Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

It's hip these days to be prepared for The Zombie Apocalypse. But at times it feels as if it's already here. So many of us spend our days powering through life, racing from one thing to another, unable or unwilling to slow down or to stop, uninterested in being awake and alert to what's happening right in front of us. We're dead to the world, but still lurching forward like extras in The Walking Dead.

If you haven't noticed people like that, you just might be one of them. I know I am. You'll often find me slogging along, staring at my various screens, speeding along the freeway, filling up my in-boxes, glued to the internet, buried in my work. At this rate, I'll probably be nibbling on someone's noggin any day now. And if I'm snacking on someone's cranium, it's time to stop.

That's why Campbell calls inadvertence--the state of inattention--an unpardonable sin. That's strong language. He says we must be alert, awake.

So what does it mean to be awake?

It means slowing down. Paying attention. Being alert to our environment, and not getting stuck in the mind/heart suck of this hyper-paced vortex we call modern society. It means taking the time to be where we are and really experience what's going on, whether it's fireworks, holidays, and kittens or ditch digging, illness, and cleaning toilets. Being awake suggests a certain consciousness to--and awareness of--our own existence.

It means interacting with what's in front of us--whether it's seeing the red barn in the middle of the emerald meadow, smelling the soft rain in November, tasting the purple onion on the bar-b-qued hamburger, or listening to "Hey Jude" by Wilson Pickett just to hear Duane Allman's guitar solo.

It means really listening to your loved ones, feeling the dog's fur in between your fingers as you pet him, and stopping to watch the yellow, orange, and lavender sunset no matter how many other millions of things are left unchecked on the daily "To-Do List." Being awake means: Noticing, observing, feeling, watching, caring, breathing, and enjoying.

Experiencing life involves being deliberate with our attention and intentional with our focus. It's all about choices; it's all about deciding for ourselves every moment where our time and attentions will be spent, attentions that are all, ultimately and sadly, quite finite.